Messenger of Death
by scifi-karis
Summary: Sheppard and team try to communicate with a strange tribe, with disastrous results.  A short story.


_AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is a story I started writing five years ago, then forgot to finish. I have published it here in it's completion, but would appreciate any ideas on an alternative ending. Please PM me or send a review if you have ideas!_

It had been Teyla's idea to try and make contact with the strange Fikaal tribe of P4S-879.

She had traded with their people before, but warned Colonel Sheppard that it would not be easy to talk to them. They were a primitive, warlike, violent people, she had explained. Many had died trying to negotiate with them. The Fikaal used a strange poison dart as a weapon. One dart would be enough to knock a person out. Many would kill. The Fikaal rarely used more than one dart, however. They preferred to stun their victim, and then take them back to one of the villages and sacrifice them there to a god that no one had heard of before, Fika, the namesake of the people.

It was a strange sight for Dr. Elizabeth Weir as, barely three hours after Sheppard's team had left Atlantis, they returned, apparently in a great hurry. There was a short radio transmission from Sheppard, informing Weir that they were coming in hot, and then, seconds later, Teyla and Rodney stumbled through the event horizon, Ronan draped across their shoulders. Sheppard was close behind them bringing up the rear, his P-90 raised towards the gate as it closed.

"Please!" Teyla called, indicating to Ronan, "He needs medical attention. He was hit by one of the darts."

A physician rushed over with a cart and several nurses, and they strapped the man to the stretcher and began to haul it away. Teyla handed a dart to one of the physicians, apparently pulled from Ronan's neck.

Teyla and McKay, exhausted, turned to look at Sheppard.

John was standing still, a shocked look on his face. His gun was hanging slack from his fingers.

"Colonel?" Weir asked as she trotted down the stairs towards her team. John locked his eyes on hers and did not move.

Teyla frowned as Sheppard made no reply. Instead, he looked down into his hand, and Teyla gasped as he let go of three darts he had pulled from his neck. The P-90 clattered to the floor as John loosened his grip and crumpled to his knees. Blood was trickling from his ears, and the darts lay all around him on the floor.

"John!" Teyla exclaimed, as she raced over to him. She caught him in her arms and glanced at Weir, a desperate look on her face. "Where is the doctor?"

"Smith! I need another med team in here right now!" Weir shouted up to the technician.

Sheppard was fighting against Teyla's grip as she lowered him to the ground. As she pulled her hand from underneath him, her look of desperation deepened, for there were four more darts in her hand she had pulled from his back. McKay joined her, concerned.

"What do we do?" he asked.

Teyla shook her head. "I . . . I do not know. This is not good."

Sheppard was shaking now, trembling, and his breathing was shallow and quick, as though he was fighting for air.

"Colonel." Weir knelt next to him. "John, can you hear me?" She waited for a response, and received none. Sheppard was struggling not against Teyla, Weir realized, but he was struggling for air.

"He can't breathe," McKay realized as well.

Teyla unzipped Sheppard's vest, trying to lighten the load on his chest, and he continued to struggle, his chest heaving for air.

Dr. Carson Beckett rushed into the room and pushed Teyla, Weir, and McKay out of the way.

"What happened?" he demanded. "First I have Ronan in the infirmary with no explanation, and now this!"

"We were attacked," McKay began.

"He was hit with several of these," Teyla offered, showing the doctor the four darts in her hand. "My people are familiar with the effects of these darts. One is enough to knock a grown man down, more . . . I cannot say for certain."

The doctor tried not to notice the tears that were threatening to spill down Teyla's face. "Tell me about this dart," he said, moving to get Sheppard onto the stretcher that he had brought with him. Two nurses aided him, and they managed to get Sheppard onto the stretcher. His face was pale, and his lips were turning blue. "He can't breathe!" Carson yelled. "Move it!"

Teyla followed the doctor at a run to the infirmary. "We must not let him fall asleep," she said as they entered the infirmary.

"Isn't that the purpose of that dart?" McKay demanded, following close on her heels. Weir was a short distance behind.

"Not when there are so many," Teyla responded. "When the Fikaal have delivered that many darts into one man, there is only one purpose . . ." She paused, afraid to say what she knew she must. "He will die."

"Not on my watch," Beckett replied from across the room. He motioned to a physician. "We might have to get a trach' tube."

After Beckett hurriedly pushed McKay, Teyla, and Weir out of the room, it took him an hour to partially stabilize Sheppard.

When he finally allowed them back in, it was with a desperate look on his face as he demanded Teyla tell him more about the darts. Sheppard lay deathly still on a bed behind him, an oxygen tube down his throat and IV's in his arms.

"I have dealt with the Fikaal before," Teyla explained, trying not to look at Sheppard. "They are extremely violent. Several of my people have been captured by them attempting to trade medicines. Their darts are their most lethal weapon."

"We were informed of this in the debriefing meeting before we left for their planet," McKay stated.

"Yes, but I want to know exactly what this dart is supposed to do," Beckett replied.

"It can knock a grown man down," Teyla continued. "It does not kill with one dart." She looked at Ronan lying on a bed next to Sheppard. "Ronan shall awaken soon, perhaps in a few hours, with no ill side effects. If a man is hit with more than one dart . . ." she trailed off again, not wanting to continue.

"You said he would die," Weir finished gently.

Teyla nodded, and whispered, "Yes. My people tell of what happened many years ago to a man that was hit by three of the Fikaal's darts. First, he bled from his ears. He did not fall unconscious at first, but he could not breathe, and we gave him herbs to clear his airway. That seemed to help at first, and we were hopeful, but I believe our mistake was in letting him fall asleep. He fell into a deep sleep, and a fever overcame him. It raged in his body for three days, and then he . . . he died."

There was a long silence as the doctor, Weir, and McKay took in what Teyla told them.

"Colonel Sheppard was hit by seven of those darts," Beckett finally said. He looked back at the man, and then took a chart down from Sheppard's bedside. "His ears were bleeding when he came in, he could not breathe, and we were able to fix that up." He looked at Teyla. "I can't give him any drugs to keep him awake or to even wake him up now because I don't know if his body will react negatively to that with a foreign drug in his system. I need to know more about this drug that the Fikaal use in their darts."

"I'll get a team on it right now," Weir said.

* * *

Sheppard had been unconscious since Beckett took him into the infirmary, and Teyla tried her best to wake him. She sat near his bedside for several hours before McKay took over, demanding she get some sleep.

"I'll keep watch for you," he said. "He might get annoyed enough at me that he'll wake up. Shoo! Get out of here!"

Reluctantly, Teyla left the infirmary, and McKay sat down next to Sheppard's bedside.

"Hey." There was a long silence. "Well, I guess since you're not going to talk to me, I'll just have to do all the talking for you." McKay sighed, wondering if it would do any good. "You know, they always say that talking to comatose patients helps. Sometimes they can respond to voices. You're not exactly comatose, though, so I'm not sure if this is going to work." He clasped his hands together and leaned forward. "All I can say is . . . you'd better wake up. You'd better fight this. Atlantis . . ." he hesitated, not realizing that what he was going to say, he really, truly felt. "Atlantis needs you," he added quietly. "You might laugh, hearing that from me, since I'm the most self centered person I know, but we need a leader. Weir is supposed to be our leader, but she can't do it alone. She needs you as much as everyone else does. We need someone who knows how to fight. We need someone who can stand up against the Wraith, and . . . and you're it, John." McKay opened his mouth in surprise and sat back. "Wow, I can't believe I just told you all that."

"Me neither."

McKay blinked, looked around, and then down at the Colonel. Dark eyes struggled to keep their gaze on him.

"Colonel?"

"McKay . . ."

McKay jumped up and shouted, "Doc! He's awake!"

"Ow . . . not so loud," John winced.

Beckett rushed into the room and leaned over Sheppard. "Colonel, can you understand what I am saying to you?"

"Yes . . ."

"Okay, keep your eyes on me." Beckett produced a small penlight and flickered its beam across the Colonel's eyes. "He's having a hard time focusing," Beckett shook his head. "Colonel, I want you to try your hardest to stay awake, now, all right? It is very important that you not fall asleep."

Sheppard shifted, his face filled with question. "Why?"

"You were hit with numerous poisonous darts," the doctor explained. "We need to make sure you do not fall asleep until we figure out what needs to be done. I can't give you any drugs because I am still analyzing the dart's qualities. McKay is going to stay right here. You keep talking to him. Do not fall asleep!"

Slowly, Sheppard nodded his head. Despite the heaviness in his chest, he felt the desperate urge in the doctor's voice to stay awake.

"So . . ." McKay began lightly, "what was the last thing you remember?"

Sheppard blinked, thinking, then responded, "I stepped through the gate and saw the medics coming for Ronan . . . where is he? What happened?"

"He's fine." McKay pulled back the curtain near the Colonel's bed to reveal Ronan sleeping in the bed next to them. "He only got hit with one dart. He should be awake soon."

Sheppard's eyes narrowed. "Doc said . . . said I got hit with a bunch of darts . . . That mean I'm gonna die?"

McKay firmly shook his head. "No. Not if we can help it. You need to stay awake now. That's all we know. Teyla and Weir are on the case, and they can be quite resourceful. Right now, you need to talk to me. Stay awake, that's all you need to concentrate on."

"Okay," Sheppard responded slowly.

McKay realized he was losing the man and quickly backtracked. "What do you remember of the mission?"

Sheppard squinted, thinking back. "We left stupidly early ..."

_"Remind me why we're talking to these people again?" Sheppard asked Weir as they waited for the Stargate to dial out from Atlantis to P4S-879._

_"Teyla said they had things of value we could use," Weir replied. "Mostly medicines that Teyla claims work better than our own."_

_"And there's the possibility of finding another power device," McKay piped._

_"Yeah, that too," Sheppard shot back, and headed down the stairs to the Stargate. "Let's go people . . . and be careful."_

_Sheppard, Ronan, Teyla, and McKay cautiously stepped through the wormhole._

_Surprisingly, they emerged in the middle of a rainforest. Sheppard radioed back to Atlantis that everything was fine, and the Stargate shut down. They were on their own for the next six hours._

_It took them over two hours to find one of the tribe's people, and as Teyla attempted to talk to the half naked man that dropped out of the trees in front of them, Sheppard had an uneasy feeling that this mission was not going to turn out the way they had hoped. His suspicions were confirmed when the man rudely interrupted Teyla after listening to her speak for a few minutes. He informed the team that they were surrounded._

_Ronan signaled to Sheppard that there was a clear way back to the Stargate. The trap had not fully been completed, and they bolted. Darts sang through the trees after them, and thankfully, they had not wandered far from the gate. It took minutes before they reached the gate, and miraculously, no one had received a blow from a dart._

_McKay slammed in the address back to Atlantis, and Sheppard called through his radio as they raced towards the gate, "We're coming in hot!"_

_Before they reached the gate, Ronan jerked, and stood still, then reached slowly up to his neck and removed a dart that had pricked him._

_McKay barreled into the man, grabbing his right arm and pulling on it, trying to get him to move up the steps._

_"Move!" Sheppard ordered, his gun trained on the forest around them. "Get him through! I'm covering you!"_

_Teyla reached for Ronan's other arm, and together, she and McKay pulled the larger man through the Stargate, with Sheppard right behind them. The wormhole pulled them into blessed sanctuary._

* * *

McKay had tried unsuccessfully to keep Sheppard awake. The man was lucid enough to relate their mission back to him, but beyond that, he seemed utterly exhausted and no matter how hard McKay shook him, Sheppard slipped back into unconsciousness. His skin was hot to the touch and McKay remembered what Teyla had told them about the man who had died from the poison. The fever had come, and Sheppard had two days.

Ronan woke shortly after, and after a few groggy moments realized Sheppard was lying unconscious in the bed next to him. It took Rodney a few moments to go through what had happened after they got through the gate, and Ronan immediately swung into action.

"I'm going to talk to Weir," he said.

"What are you going to do?" Rodney asked.

"We need to go back."

"Are you crazy? Those guys want to kill us!"

"But they have a cure."

"How do you know?"

"You don't just make a poison like that and not have a cure."

Ronan stalked off without checking out with Beckett. McKay took one last look at Sheppard and followed.

* * *

"I can't let you go back there," Elizabeth Weir shook her head at the two men in her office.

"This is Sheppard's life we're talking about here," Ronan replied angrily. "Are you just going to sit back and let him die?"

"We only have two days, Elizabeth," McKay said. "Carson isn't getting anywhere with finding a cure. At least let us try."

"I can't guarantee your safety," Weir replied. "I have one man dying in the infirmary. I can't have more deaths on my hands, no matter how valuable the Colonel is to Atlantis."

McKay suddenly brightened, an idea forming. "The body shields!"

When Weir raised an eyebrow at him, McKay continued. "I feel so stupid! Why didn't we use those when we first went through? I can fix them for each member of the team. They should stop the darts from penetrating and keep us safe when we go back."

Elizabeth tapped the surface of her desk, lips pursed. As much as she didn't like sending a team back to the deadly planet, she knew that Atlantis would suffer without it's chief military officer.

"Fine," she said. "When will they be ready?"

"I can have four ready in the next hour," McKay shouted over his shoulder, dashing out of the office. Ronan followed closely behind.

"What if you can't get it off again?"

Rodney ignored Ronan's reference to the incident a few months ago. "You just have to have make sure you have complete control. I'm afraid only people with the gene can go on this trip."

Ronan bristled. "You saying I can't go?"

"Um ... yes. We can only give out four of the shields and once they have programmed themselves to a certain person, it can't be changed back. We don't just have these lying around like tools, you know! Unfortunately, they can only be used by those with the gene as well. If we take anyone from our team, it's only going to be me ... and a couple of other guys."

"I don't care if I have a shield or not," Ronan growled. "I'm going."

"Ronan, Dr. Weir is never going to authorize it!"

Ronan turned to leave. "I'll find a way."

* * *

It was a disgruntled Dr. Weir who saw the small, five man team off to the Stargate two hours later. Ronan had managed to join the team, with a promise to Elizabeth that he would man the Stargate and keep the wormhole open for the team to come through. The four other men included Major Lorne, Rodney McKay, and two Marines. All activated their shields before entering the event horizon.

Stepping out on the other side, the team was met with a steady downpour of rain. The Marines checked their guns and cradled them closer. Ronan stepped down to the DHD as the Stargate deactivated.

"Three hours," Lorne shouted over the rain. "We collect samples, try to find some natives, then head back. We'll make a decision on whether to stay longer if we can't find anything after that. Ronan, stay in radio contact."

* * *

Sheppard was burning.

He tried to take a breath and choked on the oxygen tube down his throat. Weakly, he scrabbled at the tube for a bit before remembering what to do, coughed and pulled on the tube. The uncomfortable sensation as the tube pulled free made him gag.

He cast glassy eyes around the infirmary and saw Carson sitting at a desk in the far corner, his head resting on his hand and his eyes closed. Briefly, Sheppard wondered what time it was before remembering why he was in the infirmary in the first place.

He felt like his skin was on fire and his head pounded with the worst headache he had ever experienced. Tremors were starting to cascade along his limbs and as his eyes started to roll back in his head he was lucid enough to start telling himself that he must be having a seizure.

* * *

Carson awoke to alarms blaring and jumped up, unsure of where he was at the moment. A nurse rushed by, heading towards the bed at the far end of the room, and Carson remembered.

"Sheppard?" he called out, rushing towards the bed.

The nurse looked over her shoulder. "He's seizing."

"Dammit all to bloody hell," Carson muttered, going through the cupboards until he found what he was looking for.

He joined the nurse, who was attempting to keep Sheppard from hurting himself, holding down his shoulders while the man shook uncontrollably. The whites of his eyes were all Carson could see when he peeled back Sheppard's eyes.

"I want to give him a sedative but I don't think I can," he said to the nurse. "This bloody poison is still in his system and who knows what sort of a reaction we'll get. I think we have to wait it out and hope he doesn't get worse."

Praying that the seizure would end, Carson grabbed Sheppard at the shoulder and the hip in an attempt to ease the Colonel's wracked body. It was going to be a long night.

* * *

McKay, Lorne and the Marines had no luck in their first hour. Either the natives had seen them coming or the rain was keeping them under shelter. Lorne was surprised McKay hadn't complained about the rain. The scientist seemed tight lipped and kept his head in his lifesigns detector. It was as if he were saving any energy he may have needed for his wise cracks and was concentrating everything he had into his device.

"There!" McKay hissed, pointing straight ahead of the small team. "Someone is there."

Lorne motioned the Marines ahead.

After a quick discussion at Atlantis, it had been agreed that the natives may have access to a remedy for the poison, but force was not going to be brought into the picture if it could be helped. McKay had been sent to look for samples of plants or various minerals that may be the cure for the poison, but Carson had not had the time needed to do a thorough investigation on the matter and on what exactly was needed. From what the doctor had seen of the drug, it was like nothing anyone had every experienced on Earth, neither had Stargate Command any records of the poison in their explorations. Finding the cure on a strange planet with different vegetation and mineral deposits was going to be like finding a needle in a haystack. Hence the Marines.

Lorne and the Marines surrounded the lone lifesign and moved in, discovering one of the Fikaal natives sitting sheltered under a tree. It was a woman, and when she saw the three men she gave a shriek and tried to run. One of the Marines quickly tackled her and gently held her hands down as she tried to scratch at him.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" McKay pushed forward, trying to get the woman's attention. "We just want to talk. We're not here to hurt you."

"Fika curse you!" the woman spat.

"We need something," McKay said. "We're willing to give you food, tools, anything you might need in order to help us."

"I will not help you," the woman replied.

"Please just listen," McKay tried. "We were here yesterday, you might remember. The poison darts ... is there a cure?"

The woman glared at the scientist, ignoring his question.

"Please, we need to know!"

Finally the woman smiled, a slow, sinister smile. "There is no cure."

"No cure?" McKay was desperate. The rain was starting to irritate him, and it was running into his eyes, making it hard to see.

"There is no cure. We create the poison from the red snake. Those hit by the darts sleep. Those hit by many darts die."

McKay picked up on her words. "The red snake? Can you tell us more about it?"

"I will not speak to you any longer," the woman hissed. "Kill me now!"

"We're not here to kill you," Lorne said. "We just want to talk."

"I am done talking," the woman sniffed.

"We need to find this red snake," McKay said to Lorne. "She's not going to say anymore."

"We'll hold onto her until we leave," Lorne replied. "We don't want her running off and warning her people we're here."

McKay adjusted the readings on his lifesigns detector and the small group set off, walking ever deeper into the jungle.

* * *

Weir had waited five hours while McKay's team searched P4S-879. Ronan had updated Atlantis each hour, but nothing new had been discovered. She decided it was time to visit the infirmary.

As she entered the infirmary she encountered a weary Dr. Beckett.

"He's not doing very well," he said to her in a low voice. "His internal organs are starting to shut down and there is some hemorrhaging in his brain. He's been having seizures a few times every hour and hasn't been conscious at all."

Weir knew it was dooming the man to ask, but she had to know. "How long does he have?"

"Hard to say." The doctor shook his head. "Maybe less than 24 hours. He's fighting it, that's for sure ... It just doesn't look like he's going to win this one, Elizabeth. I'm sorry."

"Thank you, Carson." Weir looked past him to the curtained corner where she knew Sheppard lay. "Can I see him?"

"Sure. Go ahead. I'll just be over here."

Weir slowly approached the enclosed corner, and paused when she heard Teyla's voice. She looked around the edge of the curtain to find Teyla sitting at Sheppard's bedside. She held one of the Colonel's hands in her own.

"I'm so sorry, John," Teyla whispered. "It is my fault. I never should have insisted we visit the Fikaal. It was a foolish decision. If I could take it back or change places with you, I would do so in a heartbeat. Please, John ... Keep fighting. Rodney and Ronan are looking for the cure. You just ... you just have to hold on, just a little while longer."

Elizabeth cringed inwardly at all the tubes and wires attached to the man. A thin sheen of sweat covered his pale skin, and his brow was slightly creased in what appeared to be concentration, but she had a feeling it may have been pain.

"Teyla," she said, stepping forward.

The Athosian appeared startled, and dropped John's hand.

"I am sorry," Teyla stammered. "I did not hear you approach."

"It's okay," Weir replied. She pulled a chair up on the opposite side of John's bed and took his hand. "Carson said ..." Her voice seemed to stick in her throat. "Carson said he doesn't have much time."

"No." Teyla shook her head. "Has there been any word from Ronan?"

"Nothing new."

Teyla took John's other hand and squeezed, wishing for a response.

* * *

McKay was incredulous when they finally found one of the red snakes. The reptile must have been nearly fifty feet long and was, indeed, a deep shade of red. It was lethargic and slow moving from the cold of the rain, and McKay had no doubt that this was an animal in some way related to the python.

Lorne decided to call in Ronan. As they did not want to kill the creature, they used Ronan's gun to stun the snake, then carried it on a two hour hike back to the Stargate. The woman they had captured resisted them every step of the way, making the journey even more difficult.

"You want me to stun her, too?" Ronan asked at one point.

It was all Lorne could do to say no.

When they finally reached the Stargate, they dialed out and let the woman go. They watched as she ran through the rain into the forest, then entered the event horizon.

* * *

It was a wet and weary team that entered Atlantis a moment later. The gate crew were incredulous to see the five men carrying a giant red snake which they promptly dropped to the floor in exhaustion.

The science crew immediately swept in, having been informed of the creature before the team had stepped through the gate. They immediately stuffed the snake into a giant crate and carted it off to the labs.

Weir approached Lorne and McKay who had already started stripping off their wet gear.

"How did it go?" she asked.

"We think they get the poison from that snake," Lorne started. "We found a woman who told us about it."

"But she wasn't very cooperative," McKay added. "We're not even sure if she's telling the truth."

"It doesn't hurt to check," Weir said. "Hopefully we'll have some answers in the next hour or so."

"Elizabeth," Rodney caught her arm as she turned to go. "How ... how is he?"

Weir shook her head. "Not good."

* * *

Sheppard had slipped into a coma. Carson had done all he could to keep the man conscious, but the poison was too strong. The hemorrhaging also seemed to be getting worse, and blood was seeping from his nose and ears. It was far too close to Ebola for comfort.

The doctor had word that the scientists were working on the giant snake that Rodney's team had brought back. They were hoping a cure could be found within the animal itself. If not, then Sheppard was out of time. They could not afford to send another team through the gate and search for more answers. The natives of Fika would not cooperate, and the rainy weather would hinder any more searches.

John Sheppard was out of time.

* * *

Weir called a meeting once the scientists confirmed their findings. It was 2am.

"Alright, people, what's the verdict?" Weir planted her hands on the table's surface and faced the small group of men and women. Rodney, Ronan and Teyla had joined them.

"We've confirmed the poison does come from the snake," Dr. Hallen started. "The nearest we can tell, it's some form of aconite. There is an adrenal gland in the snake that holds a sack of the poison and it appears the natives use it in its raw form. We assume that the snake uses this to subdue its prey."

"What about an antidote?" Rodney asked impatiently.

Dr. Hallen shifted uncomfortably. "The good news is that we might be able to make an antidote based on our findings. The bad news is ... well ... Colonel Sheppard doesn't have the 24 hours that we need to make the antidote."

Ronan cursed and punched the wall in anger. "We weren't fast enough!"

"We already have the labs working on the antidote," Dr. Hallen said hurriedly. "Aconite has no cure, but we believe with the database on Atlantis we can find something, and this poison only appears to be related to aconite and is not aconite itself."

Weir took a deep breath. "What can we do for now?"

Dr. Hallen looked at her miserably. "We'll have to wait. And pray that he can hold on long enough that we can help him."

* * *

John opened his eyes slowly. Everything was fuzzy and blurry around the edges, but thankfully it was dark and there was no piercing light shining down on him.

His whole body was in pain. His limbs felt wooden and he had never before experienced a headache this bad.

A face appeared in his view.

"Colonel? It's Carson. Can ye hear me?"

John felt his lips crack as he opened his mouth. His throat was too dry and sore to speak.

"Hold on," Carson said. "Let me get you some water."

The doctor appeared a moment later with a glass and gently tipped a few drops into John's mouth.

"We took the oxygen tube out an hour ago," Carson said. "It might take a while before you can speak properly."

Carson disappeared again, then reappeared with Teyla. She smiled as she looked down on him and said, "It is good to see you awake John. Carson says you may recover without the antidote. You have improved in the past few hours."

John swallowed hard, trying to get enough moisture in his mouth to speak.

"Do not try to speak," Teyla said, gently laying a hand on his chest. "I will try and tell you everything to answer any questions you may have."

The Athosian lowered her head, then looked at him sadly. "I am very sorry, John. This is all my fault. I should not have insisted we visit Fikaal. This never would have happened if I had not said anything. I am sorry."

Sheppard managed to find his voice and took her hand. "Don't be."

"John, you nearly died."

"Nearly?"

"We did not think you were going to make it. We found the antidote, but it was going to take 24 hours to make, and you were not going to live that long."

John frowned, trying to put everything that Teyla had said together. "Then how ... ?"

Teyla shook her head. "We do not know. You did die. Your heart stopped three times. You have had many seizures. Suddenly, your temperature went down and you started breathing on your own. Dr. Beckett says he cannot explain what happened."

"Still ... feel like ... crap."

Carson appeared next to Teyla. "Don't try to speak, Colonel. Just rest now."

"What ... happened?"

"I don't know," Carson shook his head while he checked the machines at John's side. "Nearest I can explain is it's sort of like Ebola."

"What?"

"I know." Carson nodded gravely. "Never seen anything like it. The poison was related to aconite but the symptoms were like Ebola. Nearest I can explain is it was more like Ebola than anything else, just not a virus. Mortality rate for Ebola is high, but some people survive and no one knows why. You're a lucky man, Colonel, but you're not out of the woods yet."

"Head hurts."

"I wouldn't be surprised. I've got you on plenty of morphine. We're going to administer the antidote in a few hours and hopefully you'll feel better then. For now, you just sit back and relax."

John's eyes closed as he listened to the gentle Scot's burr. He felt the grip on his hand tighten and knew Teyla would be there when he woke.

* * *

It took nearly three weeks for John to fully recover. Even after the antidote had been administered, his fever persisted and it took his body some time to recover from having his heart restarted three times in one hour.

The exact makeup of the poison was never fully discovered, although Carson persuaded Elizabeth to let them keep the snake in the labs so they could continue studying the creature. Weir only agreed when Sheppard argued that they might be able to use the poison against the Wraith.

It was never discovered how Sheppard had managed to recover from the effects of the poison after being on the brink of death. Carson stuck by his theory that if the poison was in some way related to the Ebola virus, it may have been that Sheppard had "gotten lucky." Thankfully it was a poison and not a virus, or most of Atlantis would have been wiped out.

Three weeks after John successfully fought off the poison, he gathered his team to look at their next mission. Rodney made sure the next planet was not covered in rainforest and was happy when the MALP results showed a distinct lack of vegetation. Three days later they assembled in front of the Stargate, waiting for Weir to give them word.

Weir grinned. "Colonel Sheppard, you have a go."

Sheppard saluted. "Yes ma'am."

Sheppard, Ronan, Teyla and McKay stepped through the event horizon.


End file.
